Place in Noah's Family
For those who take the genealogies of Genesis to be historically accurate, Japheth is commonly believed to be the father of the Europeans. The link between Japheth and the Europeans stems from Genesis 10:5, which states," By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands. According to that book, Japheth and his two brothers formed the three major races:
- Japheth is the father of the Japhetic race
- Ham is the father of the Hamitic race
- Shem is the father of the Semitic race
William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part II contains a wry comment about people who claim to be related to royal families. Prince Hal notes of such people,
- ...they will be kin to us, or they will fetch it from Japhet. (II.ii 117-18)
Genesis 10:5 was often interpreted to mean that the peoples of Europe were descended from Japheth. Clearly, then, any two Englishmen must have at least this one ancestor in common, and thus any individual could claim kinship with the king.
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